October 2003 |
Issued Monthly |
October 2003 |
Issued Monthly |
Bible scholar and author, Derek Prince died in his sleep September 24th at his home in Jerusalem. The cause was heart failure. Within hours I received a call from his American office advising me of the news. That was followed by a letter from his son-in-law, David Selby. Derek was the author of more than 45 books, some of which have been translated into 60 languages, and his radio broadcasts, Keys To Successful Living, and Today With Derek Prince, have also been heard in more than 60 languages, reaching all parts of the globe. These include translations into all major Chinese dialects: Amoy, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Swatow. Millions of Chinese who knew Derek as Ye Guang-Ming (Clear Light) assume him to be Oriental. Other broadcasts go out in Mongolian, Arabic, Malagasy, Russian, Samoan, Tongan, Spanish, and English. More than 100 Spanish-language radio stations in Spain and Latin America dispatch his message to 15 nations. In the U.S., his broadcast is carried by some 115 stations. Millions of Derek's teaching cassettes, books, videos, have been given away free of charge to spiritually-hungry people around the world. At a Conference in Brighton, England, years ago, I met numerous pastors from Africa, Asia, and the Pacific islands, whose ministry had been birthed and empowered by Derek Prince. The island nation of New Zealand has been saturated with his ministry.
The DPM International Office, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, directs its work through a network of foreign branches in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, England, Holland, and Germany. I am personally acquainted with members of the International Council for DPM and say without hesitation that these are the finest, most committed Christian men and women I have ever had the privilege to know. Knowing them is one of the great honors of my life. With them are numerous other men and women who devotedly labor behind the scenes.
Derek was born in Bangalore, India, into a British military family and as a five year old, spoke Hindustani and English; at age ten, he began a serious study of Greek and Latin. He would later add to that an understanding of Hebrew, Swahili, and other European languages. At age 13, Derek's scholarship gained him admission to England's distinguished Eton College. A few years later, Cambridge University accepted him, honored him with a Fellowship, and acknowledged him as the Senior Scholar of the Year. Later, Derek studied at Hebrew University in Israel.
Derek grew up in the Church of England but found it offered him no real answers. That disappointment pushed him deeper into secular philosophy. Compulsively, he wanted to know "the meaning of life". When World War II began, he left Cambridge and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps; his grandfather had been a General in the British military service, his father a Colonel. Being forced to travel light, he took a single "philosophical" work with him--a book he had never read--the Bible. Late one night, in his army barracks, having read from Genesis to Job, and after visiting a small back-street church, he was dramatically saved. In that same room two weeks later he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The power of those encounters with God decided the all-important issue of his career: Scripture--not philosophy--had the answers he sought. With that assurance, he gave up the opportunity to return to Cambridge and plunged himself into a pursuit of the Word of God. When the war ended, Derek remained in Israel with his Danish wife, the former Lydia Christiansen, who had founded a home for orphaned girls. Overnight, he became the father of eight daughters; six were Jewish, one was Palestinian-Arab, and the other, English. Later, he and Lydia adopted another black daughter during their residence in Kenya.
Before the fall of Communism, a Hungarian woman who wanted to study authentic English diction, listened to a Derek Prince teaching tape. She was not a Christian and had no thought of becoming one. Her motive in listening to the cassette was solely to acquire "Cambridge" articulation. Before finishing the tape, however, which was on the theme of "deliverance" from unclean spirits, she experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and was set free. Her husband listened and he was delivered. They next invited their neighbors to listen; these were also delivered. In that way, an underground-church was born under the very guns of a God-hating Communism. Today, that congregation is home to more than 10 thousand members and is the largest full-gospel church in the nation. This story is not unusual. Derek was as comfortable preaching at an open-air meeting in Papua, New Guinea or Zambia, as he was in Westminster Chapel, London, and many of his five-month long preaching tours took him, Lydia, or Ruth, around the world. Numerous times I heard him deliver a two-hour message.
I first met Derek Prince nearly 25 years ago and began a relationship that changed my life. No other Bible teacher impacted me as did he. I not only heard him in person as often as possible but listened to some of his cassette tapes as much as 20 times. He touched a depth of Scripture I had never known before. I saw this proved once at a Conference in Kazakhstan when Chinese pastors daringly sneaked through the armed China border to hear him speak. It was my privilege to be part of Derek’s Ministry Team at some of those Conferences in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey, and to have him preach at my church, Grace Fellowship, Boynton Beach, Florida, while I was pastor. It was he who was responsible for my preaching in Red Square in Moscow, at Pastors Schools in Smolensk, and other places in Kazakhstan. When he published his book, They Shall Expel Demons, Derek asked me to write a section that told about my ministering deliverance to a young man plagued by homosexuality. Once, when I sent him word that I would be unable to attend the Balkan Conference in Amarati, Turkey, he answered by fax, saying, Please pray again. I prayed, went to Turkey, and now treasure memories of that special time together.
Because of the danger of Turkey being an Islamic nation it was necessary to protect the identity of the pastors attending. These meetings were not publicized in Turkey; nor were photographs permitted to be taken. Without drawing attention to ourselves, Christians from some 23 nations quietly came together in an isolated spot near Amarati. Interestingly, the night before the first Conference began, Turkish national T.V. broadcast a half-hour program warning Moslems to be alert to Christian propaganda. Turkey, which has a population of 65,000,000, is the world's largest Moslem nation with less than 1,000 Christians in the entire country.
At Derek's request, I ministered the first night to all the Evangelists in the meeting, laying-on-hands, and praying for the Holy Spirit's imparting. This was a beautiful event with numerous pastors dropping to the floor under the power of God. One pastor, a former Moslem, received such an impacting that his body literally arched from the floor. Only his heels and back of his head were touching. For some forty-five minutes the Holy Spirit vibrated him with a "sign and wonder" that will never be forgotten. Moslem waiters in the hotel stopped and stared at him incredulously. Later, as a result, one of them was saved.
My afternoons were spent in private counseling, deliverance ministry, and prayer for the men. One of the personal
high-lights was in receiving Communion from an Albanian ex-Moslem who had a glowing love for the Lord.
Pastors came from Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and other areas. Messages delivered in English were translated into six other languages. Worship songs varied from Turkish to Albanian, Hebrew to Romanian, English, etc. Though the languages were different, everyone knew the tunes and each sang in his own tongue. It was beautiful! One Albanian Pastor and his wife had been instrumental in establishing 27 churches in four years. One of the most stirring moments was a feet-washing service in which Arabs washed the feet of Jews, Serbs washed the feet of Croatians, and others from warring nations knelt before one another. This was a scene of weeping, some breaking into wailing, as God healed wounds from their warring past. We all watched with joy as a Pastor from Iraq baptized his eight year old son in the Aegean Sea. Tragically, this father had been warned by our Government that he was targeted for Moslem destruction. Since the Iraq War I have often wondered about him and his precious family. The Balkan Conference was followed by a second one at a different location and was limited to Turkish pastors only. One young Turk whom I met the previous year at the Conference in Kazakhstan is an example. He was twenty-eight years old, had become a Christian ten years before, and never wavered in his confession of Christ. It took him one week of traveling, night an day, cramped in an uncomfortable, dirty bus across the desert, to attend the Conference in Kazakhstan. When he left the Moslem religion his family disowned him, declared him dead, and refused to see him ever again. At the Conference in Turkey the following year, when he saw me, he came rushing across the room, hugged me, lifted me from the floor, shouting, "Dad! Dad!" Believe me, such love makes all the sacrifice worthwhile. It was Derek who made that meeting possible for him and me. In Derek’s passing, I feel the loss of a brother, teacher, and personal friend.
American author, Stephen Mansfield, former pastor at Belmont Church, Nashville, whom I have known for many years, has been commissioned by DPM to write Derek Prince’s biography and was in Jerusalem at the time of Derek’s death. Significantly, Stephen is also the author of the forth-coming book about our President, The Faith Of George W. Bush. Hopefully, many who read the President’s biography and see Stephen Mansfield’s name attached, will be motivated also to read the one about Derek Prince.
Derek’s funeral service was held in Jerusalem on Friday, September 26, with a memorial service following in Charlotte, North Carolina. Derek outlived both wives; Ruth, the second one, passed away in December, 1998. Next year, May 2-5, 2004, the Derek Prince National Conference will be held at the Adams Mark Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. The emphasis will be on the Scripture’s teaching regarding Israel. John Hagee will be the principal speaker. In concluding this tribute to a man I loved, only one Scripture seems appropriate: A Prince And A Great Man Has Fallen This Day In Israel. CCC
DEREK PRINCE AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR BATTLE OF EL ALAMEIN
In the Second World War in North Africa, the German General Rommel chased the British into the longest retreat in English history--1,500 miles across the desert. With that tragedy haunting them, the British Command immediately placed General Montgomery in charge of English troops. This occurred just before the battle of El Alamein when the prospects for the British were very dim. Derek was present in that famous retreat--and the battle following--and led a group of soldiers in prayer. Upon taking command, General Montgomery, who was also a believing Christian, immediately called his commanding officers together. He read Psalm 24:8, to them,
"Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of Glory shall come in.
Who is this King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle."
Montgomery then said, "Let us call on the Name of the Lord --- 'Mighty in battle'," and led the men in prayer. The battle that followed at El Alamein defeated Rommel and became a turning point for the Allies. When General Montgomery publicly called upon the Name of the Lord Heaven responded.
"THE LORD MIGHTY IN BATTLE"
During the First World War, the U.S. 91st Brigade adopted the 91st Psalm, the "Soldiers Psalm", as its Covenant with the Lord. Daily, the men recited the words and claimed God's protection over them. Part of the Psalm says, "A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you." Vs.7. The Brigade fought in three of the bloodiest battles of the War, Chauteau Thievery, Belle Wood, and Argonne. Other units in the same battles suffered losses nearing 90 percent. By contrast, the 91st Brigade did not experience a single combat-related casualty.
LETTERS
Dear Brother Charles, I have just finished reading your book, The Edge Of Glory. I don’t know how to express the joy I felt while reading it and rejoiced that you have been granted such a wonderful gift ... I have left my home church after 50 years as a member. I love the people there but felt that the messages were not what I was hungering for. I have been attending a church where the pastor is an ex-con and his messages are powerful ... Many years ago I heard you preach in Columbus, Georgia. Your message was from I Kings 18:41, “Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink: for there is the sound of abundance of rain.’” I remember feeling the Spirit so powerfully and afterwards talked to you about it. Evidently, I didn’t follow your advice. If I had, I wouldn’t be looking and searching at my age. There are quite a few of the people I know who are looking for something more. --- In Christian love. B.A.S. Tallassee, Alabama
CHIANG MAI, THIALAND, "Dear Pastor Carrin ... Rainy season has come early and the drought they have predicted has been drowned out. The rain of the Spirit is upon us as well. The 16th of May we opened our Bible Training School with 20 students. They have been growing by leaps and bounds as they daily soak up the Word of God. In the third week of training the entire class got filled with the Holy Spirit and they have been on fire ever since. Anointed preaching and teaching coupled with fasting and prayer is making a dramatic change in the lives of these men. We look forward to what they will accomplish for God ... “Charles Milbrodt
LETTERS FROM TEN YEARS AGO ...
DEREK PRINCE WRITES: "Dear Charles and Laurie, Ruth and I have just come from Budapest, Hungary, where 12,000 Christians filled the largest indoor stadium to celebrate Faith Church's 15th anniversary. Now we are in Prague continuing a very intense ministry schedule. We came here secretly in 1986 and taught 20 young leaders in a clandestine seminar. Today there are 700 leaders and wives from Czech and Slovakia gathered for this teaching! To God be all the glory! ... Yours in His love and grace” --- Derek and Ruth
SIERRA LEONE, WEST AFRICA: "Dear Daddy Charles ... The rebel war you left is still going on, especially in the eastern and southern region of the country, but we still hope and pray that God will bring it to a speedy conclusion ... Continue to pray for me as I am planning next academic school year to study Christian Education ... Your son, Abioseh.